Disabled people on benefits shouldn't have to fear being active

Asking people to report those they believe to be claiming DLA fraudulantly discourages disabled people from having fun

Carsten Höller's exhibition at Tate Modern. 'I chickened-out … but I'll probably never have the opportunity to do something similarly fun and unique again.' Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian
David Levene/Guardian

This week, a 51-year-old woman from Cardiff was sent to jail for 10 weeks for claiming nearly £20,000 in benefits after she was filmed going down a water slide while on holiday. Further footage of her walking unaided and descending rocky steps was also used as evidence against her.

She was claiming the highest rate of mobility allowance, and the highest rate of care allowance – both rates are for the most severely disabled people who need the most help, day and night. This sentence was reported just as the government urged the public to anonymously report benefit cheats. Every day, 23 people are arrested and charged for fraudulently claiming some form of benefit, and rightly so – the fake claims take money away from the genuinely disabled. However, those who are rightfully claiming benefits are fearful of incorrectly being accused of fraud, too.

Many people are ignorant of disabilities, and many disabled people have fluctuating conditions that have a huge effect on how much they can do. Most people with chronic or painful conditions have to weigh up the costs of doing any activity. For some, managing at home is tiring, and just trying to cook or look after themselves can be exhausting on bad days. On rare good days, going out and doing things like going to the pub, playing outside with the kids or spending a day out with friends – even in a wheelchair or using crutches – can cause pain and fatigue the next day and beyond. Someone in good health can go outside on a whim, but for some severely disabled people many factors must be taken into account first, including the weather, the terrain, the amount of sleep they've had, the balance of their pain medication and the equipment and assistance from people they need to get around.

A few years ago, there was an exhibition at Tate Modern where artist Carsten Höller temporarily installed some slides in the main hall. My dad had pushed me to the gallery for a look around, and we watched adults and kids having a great time going down the various slides. It looked like great fun, and dad suggested I could get out of my wheelchair, position myself comfortably in the protective padded cushions, and go down the smallest one. Mulling it over, we couldn't foresee any terrible damage it could do to me. In the end, I chickened out and decided not to and I regret being cowardly and missing out on what looked like a good time. I'll never know if I would have hurt myself going down the slide, but I'll also probably never have the opportunity to do something similarly fun and unique again. But what if I had been anonymously reported by someone then?

Disability blogger Kaliya Franklin today posted a video of what it is like to prepare for and go on one of her "deathwalks", so called because of how exhausting they are. She has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a painful condition that causes fatigue, muscle weakness and dislocations of joints. She tries to go on a deathwalk most days with some difficulty, but believes it is worthwhile to get out and be mobile, as suggested by her physiotherapist.

Many disabled people are in fear of losing benefits through the various cuts or the new flawed assessments, but it is also unfair that some are now worrying about being reported because of being seen being active and having a nice time on a good day. The 0.5% of fraudulent DLA claims really do ruin it for the 99.5% of genuine claimants.